Dan Nied's Fortress of Weight Loss: Day 33

One thing: For some reason, Friday’s entry never got posted to Blogcritics. I am sure I screwed up something in the posting process that led to its ultimate demise in "draft" mode. So I have attached the entry beneath this one, meaning this is one of the longest entries in history.

There is one thing that I have to deal with this time around, that didn’t exist during the 100 days.

This diet, for some reason, is an emotional roller coaster. I am up, I am down, I am focused, I am not. I have really been all over the place with this. One day, I am going to get to 270, the halfway point, by the middle of February. Other days, I am doomed to live life at 290 pounds.

So of course, there are swings of successes and failures to go with the emotions. Though I should say, for the record, the successes have been much more plentiful.

During the 100 days, there was never a sense of pending failure. It kind of just all felt right.

I am not really sure why that contrast exists between the two diets. But I have a few theories.

The “THE WORLD IS AGAINST ME” theory
I don’t really believe the world is against me. Just certain factions when it comes to this diet. The real problem here is that it is much more difficult to tune out others this time around.

Back in old Sterling, Colo., there was really only one person I hung around with. And though he was morbidly obese, he respected the diet. I lived alone, and there was no real social life to speak of. I had no problem sitting around in my apartment on the weekends and going to the gym when I had some free time.

In fact, the gym was much easier back then. If I went directly after my morning shift at work (I split the shifts up), when I basically had the place to myself. Add to that the fact that the people who ran the gym were coaches for teams I covered, and generally people I was friendly with. Because of that, there were always words of encouragement flying at me. They wanted to see me succeed, and I sometimes felt like I rewarded them by letting them see me succeed.

Here in old Vallejo, Calif., I live in a much different world. While, on the whole, it might be a better place for me to live, it is an atmosphere much less conducive to weight loss. First, there are people here. Theoretically, I could pick up the phone and call a few people to go drinking on my night off. I haven’t done that yet, but I am sure I will someday. Second, I have roommates, and they eat like shit and offer me their leftovers. I usually appreciate that. But right now, I do not. Third, I work in a place where people love to bring in food. Though that happened in Colorado from time to time, the food was usually tucked away in the break room, where I could ignore it for the two hours per day I was in the office. Here, that food is out in the open, taunting me every chance it gets. Damn food better shut its mouth.

Article Author: Dan Nied

Dan Nied is a journalist, of sorts, living near San Francisco. He is a college graduate, but you wouldn't know it by looking at his bank statement.

Visit Dan Nied's author page — Dan Nied's Blog